Prompted
by TheKingdomKeyblade
Summary: a collection of drabbles and one-shots for gruvia using prompts created by a random word generator. some will connect, others won’t.
1. nightmare

**every few days or so, i'll do a new one of these. this is an easy and fun way for me to write my favorite pairing and exercises my writing fingers. the first prompt was:**

 **nightmare**

 **... x**

At night, she felt him fidget in his sleep.

Juvia would be jostled from her sleep by Gray's pained form, his hand gripping her waist as if to keep himself grounded in reality. She knew he had nightmares; it was hard not to with all the things he'd seen, all the dark corners in his mind. She just wished she could do something more for him than hold him steady as the storm passed.

They'd started doing real missions together, ones that would involve them being gone for days at a time. Juvia thought it made the dreams worse. She was afraid being together made taking high-risk jobs more stressful for him. It was definitely more stressful for her.

But on the night Juvia awoke with a start, hand pressed against her chest as her body jolted into a sitting position, it was something of a surprise. Her nightmares had been few and far between since she joined Fairy Tail, and she'd almost forgot the protocol for how to deal with them. Bad dreams had a way of depleting her magic in a way she didn't quite understand.

Juvia sighed when she was greeted by the dark, familiar room in Gray's small apartment. Her lover slept on his stomach beside her, arm slung lazily over the place where Juvia usually slept. She felt content at the sight, but quietly crept out of bed none the less, slowly dropping her clothes and taking soft steps in the direction of the bathroom.

This was how Juvia had learned to deal with the bad dreams that plagued her while she was still a part of Phantom Lord. She would peel off her pj's and slip into the shower, turning the water on it's coldest setting and letting it spray all down her back and shoulders. She would slowly creep the temperature up to go as far as it could go, letting her body liquidize as the scalding water warmed her from the inside out in an attempt to connect her magic with where she felt most comfortable. It was incredibly therapeutic to Juvia, being one with her element, and she'd spend hours there if she could.

When the hot water ran out and again ran cold within her body, Juvia would become solid again with her head cleared, her body feeling nourished, and her magic replenished. She took deep breaths, bracing herself for the cold air, pulling the shower door open and nearly jumping out of her skin.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia screeched. Her arms automatically fell across her chest. Gray gave a sleepy smirk, causing a blush to fall across the water mage's face. "Juvia didn't hear Gray-sama come in..."

Gray shrugged in response. "It's nothing I haven't seen before, Juves," he chuckled, nodding at her flustered form. He offered his girlfriend a towel, which she took gratefully. "I ran it in the dryer for a little while so it would be warm."

Juvia smiled despite her embarrassment; Gray was always thinking about her like that, showing her love in tiny ways. Although her beloved wasn't one for public and obvious displays of affection, he still found subtle ways to assure her of his adoration and support. "Thank you, Gray-sama," she paused as she wrapped herself in the towel, before furrowing her eyebrows and looking up at the dark-haired man. "Did Juvia wake you?"

He shrugged again, his eyes trailing over her legs and across her shoulders. "You know I have trouble sleeping without you," he mumbled, rubbing his hand across his bare chest. "I can't make sure you're safe if you're not there with me."

Juvia blushed ever so slightly. She'd been working on keeping calm and trying not to freak out anytime Gray said sweet nothings, but no matter how calm she looked on the outside, her heart always sang quiet melodies at his perfect words.

"Juvia is sorry," she spoke. Gray shook his head, dismissing her apology. There was a beat of silence, before he sighed and rubbed his right eye.

"You had a nightmare, didn't you?" he didn't ask so much as stated a fact. Juvia nodded; Gray was always good at reading her. She found out long ago there was no use in trying to lie to him.

"It's okay," she assured. "Juvia is okay. She took a long shower and took care of herself."

Gray reached out for her waist and pulled her closer. He wrapped his arms around her, and Juvia blushed again as she felt every curve of her body press into him. He leaned in closer. "Wake me up next time," his voice was quiet, his lips brushing against her ear as he spoke, causing chills to ripple down her neck and across her chest, leaving goosebumps in their wake. "I can shower with you and rub your back."

Juvia smiled slightly, feeling him slowly pull her towel away from her body and pressing them chest to chest. He was so warm. "Sorry," Juvia tucked her face into his neck. "Juvia was so used to dealing with them alone while she was in Phantom Lord."

Gray nodded, pressing the tiniest of kisses to her temple. "But you aren't alone anymore, Juves. I'm here. You'll never be alone again."

Her smile was breathtaking in that moment. Slowly, Gray peeled himself away from her, grabbing her t-shirt from the counter and slipping it over her head. "C'mon," he said. "Let's get back to bed."

Juvia nodded, before frowning. "How did Gray-sama know Juvia had a nightmare?"

Gray didn't answer her right away, pulling her by her hand back into his bedroom as he let out a long yawn. "Why else would you get out of bed?"


	2. grounded

**prompt: grounded**

* * *

Anxiety has a funny way of manifesting at night.

Gray thinks it to himself when he rouses from static-cracked dreams in his bed, feeling the weight of his whole existence pressing against the center of his chest. It happens sometimes, on particularly cold nights in Magnolia when there's snow and snow and _more snow,_ falling in thick, heavy flakes against glass window panes. The memories shift around in his throat and rise into the empty cavern of his mouth in an attempt to push out out out into the cold expanse of velvet sky, but Gray clamps himself shut, a vice grip on the sheets at his hips to stop the scream trying desperately to manifest from his psyche.

Moments trickle by in the same way a river would, smoothing Gray's body and mind like stones eroded by running water. He feels his fingers loosen by their own accord and his chest falls in quiet, careful breaths, sure to steady the silence as to not wake the sleeping woman beside him. He lets his head fall to the side, face to face with his Juvia.

Gray is especially grateful for her on nights like this. He draws his body closer as his eyes trace the slope of her nose, arm rising to rest across her waist where she lays delicately on her side. She murmurs something at the weight of his hand coming to settle on her bare back, a sleepy mixture of his name and a soft sigh, and he'd never say it within earshot of _anyone_ in the guild but she was the cutest when she slept. Juvia's palm comes to rest on his chest, fingers pressing lightly against his guildmark and his eyes close, losing himself in the way her body responds to his movements, his touch, his attention.

"Juvia," Gray whispers her name, presses it gently into the space between them like it was a secret he'd never share. She shifts, curling closer, lips parting into the faintest of smiles and blue hair falling like ocean waves, crashing against the shore of his white bed sheets. She could calm the frozen tundra that stirred inside him with only her warm hand, melting away any resistance that lingers after a strange and listless sleep.

"Does Gray-sama make a habit of watching Juvia while she sleeps?"

Her voice startles him slightly as he watches her lips curl into an easy half smile. Gray can't help but chuckle as she opens her eyes, sinking further into his chest.

"Hush," his voice is teasing, playful. "Go back to sleep, Juves."

Juvia shakes her head, shifting and pressing Gray's back against the mattress. She lazily hitches one leg over his waist and sits up, settling her weight back on on his hips as his hands come to rest on her thighs, looking up at her soft figure while the moonlight hits her cheekbones and bare shoulders. Gray takes a deep breath, feeling an aching in his chest as he's filled with so much love and a longing to run his fingers through her hair.

"Can't sleep?" Juvia's voice is bed-worn and thick with husk and something sexy he can't distinctly place. She traces her name absently across his chest, dots the 'i' with a small heart and curls the end until it traces all the way down to his navel. Gray shivers.

"Static," he murmurs. Static was their word for a distress or unease not always easily discernible. Gray knows she understands, and she does, nodding her head and shifting her body to lean forward. Hands much smaller than his press into the pillow on either side of his head, blue hair cascading around them like a curtain of endless sky. He can feel her warmth pressing against his naturally chilled skin, and goosebumps rise from her hips to her breasts.

"Juvia will do her best to ground you again," she slips the words between them as she lowers herself further, nibbling gently on his ear. Gray smiles as she eases them into an easy chest-to-chest position, her nose pressed firmly against the pulse point of his neck and her arms coiling under his arms and over his shoulders. Here, in this moment, Gray feels heavy and light all at once, splaying his fingers against her back and tangling their legs together in soft submission.

"Are you cold?" Gray reaches over and tugs on their quilt. Juvia sighs in soft content, and he can feel her lips move against his neck when she talks.

"Sleepy," she murmurs, pressing a kiss to his jaw. "Go back to sleep, Gray-sama. No more static."

Gray gathers her closer and holds her tight. "I love you, Juvia..."

She's already asleep.


	3. isolation

**isolation**

* * *

Sometimes Juvia was far away.

Gray had his dark days too, but Juvia's were something different. From the moment they slipped into their relationship, Gray had found himself dismantling the walls that he'd put up so long ago. Despite how long he'd fought her and attempted to deny the feelings that etched themselves into his bones, he threw himself headfirst into her love and affection, desperate to make up for the time he squandered. He told her everything. Gray's dark days were the ones in which he clung to her most.

Juvia's dark days held the quiet of a beach with no moon, when the ocean was at low tide and receded into itself as if to escape the touch of shore. Sometimes Gray didn't recognize her. Juvia didn't speak much during those times, but when she did her voice was always just this side of wrecked, her tones that typically held waves fell into silent ripples. She fell into a lonely place, a place Gray was afraid was too far for him to reach.

That didn't mean he'd ever stop trying.

The advantage Gray had was he could always see them coming. It was always clear when the rain was _unnatural_. It starts with the way the wind engulfs his form, the way it can smell like spring in the middle of summer. There's an ache to his bones when the drops begin to hit his typically bare shoulders, as if the sky itself is trying to tell him something. He thought his easy recognition had something to do with how attuned he'd become to her magic, several unison raids later and night after night spent watching her play with the water in the river. Truly, it didn't matter. He was just grateful for it.

Her days were infrequent, maybe once every few months. But when they came, they came hard.

If he's within Magnolia when it starts, he sprints. Sometimes it was dead in the middle of conversations, his words left abandoned and hanging in the air like an unsung song, questioning looks sent his way as he burst from shops and left bags of instant ramen spilled at check-out. It was always unfortunate on days when he had been on missions, when he came back into town and was met with a downpour and a guilt that settled low in his stomach knowing he hadn't been there to help.

Gray always found her in the same place; Juvia always sat in her oversized chair in front of the window, curled up in his favorite black t-shirt. Usually she pulled their comforter out of their room to bundle herself further. Sometimes she was knitting. Sometimes she was asleep. Other times she played with the water that slid down the panes, tracing intricate patterns and beautiful pictures on the glass with her magic. Her state was always trance-like, pulled so far into her own mind she couldn't recognize he was home and dripping rainwater on their hardwood floor.

Taking care of her was usually an all-night thing. Gray would change into dry clothes and lift her just enough to set her sideways into his lap. He would guide her head to his shoulder, letting her face press into his neck as his fingers lifted to pull through her long, blue curls. Juvia typically wouldn't react for a few minutes, but eventually she'd slowly leave her dissociative state and lift her hand to rest over his guildmark on his chest. She'd trace it; she never spoke and he never pushed her.

When Gray was sure she he'd pulled her mostly into reality, he'd move to cook her supper. Juvia usually did the cooking, it was something she genuinely enjoyed doing, but on these nights he'd usually have to coax her into eating. "Juves," he'd call out her nickname. Sometimes she responded. Other times she didn't.

After supper he'd draw her a bath. By this point he could get her to give little nods or head-shakes to his questions.

"Too hot?" he'd ask. She'd shake her head.

"Bubbles?" he'd ask. She'd nod.

Gray would bathe her. He'd wash her hair and massage her scalp with soft ease and tender smiles— ask her slowly about how her day went. He listened to the rain as she responded, usually generic little murmurs under her breath about her knitting or something that happened at the guildhall. By the time the bubbles had popped and the water had gone lukewarm, she was content enough that the weather had settled.

Gray dried her and brushed her hair down her back. He pressed kisses to her collar and shoulders as he dressed her, pulling another one of his shirts over her head and a pair of his boxers on her hips. He sang to her; it always made his Juvia giggle.

"How you feelin'?" Gray would finally ask, letting his hands slip beneath the back of her shirt. He rubbed circles against the curve of her back, and Juvia would close her eyes.

"Better," she'd smile.

"Wanna talk about it?" Gray would ask.

Juvia would say yes, but sometimes she said no. They'd lay down and he'd listen to her every word, talk it out with her and kiss the corner of her mouth. Gray would lull her to sleep, and the next morning she'd wake up early and make muffins for breakfast. He'd rouse from heavy sleep to the smell of blueberries. The scent would lead him all the way into the kitchen over to the stove, and the gentle hum of his happy and content girlfriend would bring a sleepy smile to his face.

"Good morning, love."

"Good morning, Gray-sama," Juvia would turn with a muffin and lift it under his nose. Gray would chuckle.

"Juvia loves you," she'd smile. Gray would know then that the storm would pass.

"I love you too," he'd tell her, and she'd lean up and kiss his cheek.

Juvia definitely had her lonely, dark days. But Gray would always bring her back.


End file.
